Category: #FictionFriday

A/N: I wanted to write a story about some of the places I’ve visited over the course of my 30 years on earth, but I was worried it’s going to come off as obnoxious or bragging. So, I chose to write a story about the place where I was born and raised, Jakarta. You might tell from the story how I have missed this city so much, picturing it in a light that I’m sure had I wrote this story back home, I would not have seen Jakarta the way I see it now.

A/N: This story is mostly inspired by my love of fried chickens. I have yet to be bored by constantly eating fried chickens. And yet, not a huge fan of sunbathing, or being under the sun in general, but after one in a half year of missing out on proper sweat, maybe I kinda miss it?

A/N: Honest to God, I do not know what this mess of a story is about. But, one day at work after me and my mates came back from lunch, we were walking past this old decrepit house. That house is vile, you know? We’ve seen actual feces, human feces not animal feces, left on the side of the house. We even saw an actual live human being taking a shit next to the house on broad breaking daylight like it’s nobody’s business. I kid you not. Anyway, on that day we were all joking about what possible disgusting thing we would find next to the house, lo and behold, an actual black lace bra! Yep, someone thought that maybe their bra is not good enough that they’re just going to throw it out on the street? So, that is the inspiration behind the story and I wished I had written it better but I’m a firm believer that whatever I wrote, and however shitty that was, I’ll stick by it. Here goes. That being said, I am sorry for this mess of a story.

A/N: Not a complete fiction because some parts mentioned in the story actually did happened, whether in real life or happened in my head. Either way, I had a great time writing this incredibly short story. I wanted to elaborate more but I felt that the ending was perfect, at least for me.

People think that sitting on a grass on a summer night whilst stargazing is romantic, if not a beautiful experience. Truth be told, it’s nothing close to beautiful when you’re busy swatting the many bugs swarming over your naked arms and legs.

And yet, I’m still here anyway, swatting bugs and mosquitoes over my naked arms and legs. I would have worn a jacket but it’s summer and I’m already sweating from the heat. I could have worn longer pants, but even with shorts, my thighs are already sticking together like caramel from the sweat pooling up. I would rather be home but I don’t know how to say no when all my friends said that stargazing is the ultimate summer activity. Yeah, I don’t buy that. What part of getting swarmed by mosquitoes and bugs in a remote place screams the ‘ultimate summer activity’?

This morning Nima woke with a heavy heart. He felt angry at things he could not put into words; it was just a strong surge of anger flowing through his veins. He sighed as he looked up at his bedroom ceiling and noticed the faint glow in the dark stickers that he put up just a year ago. Why did he think it was a good idea?

He sat on his bed, thinking of how life has been like for him the past year; how it was full of ups and downs, but mostly downs and yet he is still here. His friends said it was a testament to how strong he has been, but Nima thinks that it’s just a load of crap. He won’t say it out loud though, Nima has always been favouring stability and peace over any types of conflict; if agreeing to all the things that he finds repulsive will keep people around him happy, then Nima would be more than happy to do so.

Amidst his daydreaming, if it can be called daydreaming at 6.30 AM, his phone rang. It was one of his colleagues. Nima just stared at the phone, debating if he really should take the call, after all they were going to meet at work, so why should he called Nima so early?

Evie can be quite vulgar at times, not because she is without a class of her own, but she just wants to be genuine, authentic of some sorts. Not confined to society’s rigid norms. It can be quite problematic in her line of work. As a matter of fact, calling it quite problematic is an understatement. There are times when Evie’s brain is telling her to just shut up and stop being vulgar with her thoughts, you know to keep the pretence that she’s actually as normal as those run of the mill new aspiring employees at the firm that she’s currently working.

Just looking at her day to day, she does seem quite normal, almost as if she could blend into the background, like a chameleon, which happens to be Evie’s favourite animal. Give her enough time to get her going on topics such as equality and society’s expectation, then you can see how vulgar she can be; how illustrious she can get with her chosen words. It’s not that she’s trying to sound edgy with all the cursing, she just felt it easier to express her anger that way, something that is clearly frowned upon, but honestly that is the purpose, isn’t it? That Evie is not going to be tied and crumpled by society’s expectations, norms, and standards.

Her friends said that she’s barking up the wrong tree if she thinks she can make a difference by cursing and being angry. But, if she is expected to not bark and just observe whilst sitting quietly waiting for the world to change, that is practically like when Socrates was being asked to drink poison as his punishment, becoming his own executioner.

Yes, it is indeed true that Evie can get dramatic at times. More than once has she said the things that would have her rolled her eyes to the back of her head had it been said by another person to her, but on her defence, the situation does require a dramatic response and honestly, she was just so tired and she deserves to be a tad bit dramatic.

Right, where was I going with this story of Evie?

Evie, with all her shenanigans, anger, frustration, and just a pinch of patience, have been having a hard time at work. She is constantly at odds with how much injustice and inequality there were at work. And whilst she can get angry at the snap of a finger, it’s not always how she chose to go about solving the problems at work, so she stayed quiet. And she carries that anger and the feeling of powerlessness all throughout her day and sometimes the next.

Amidst the anger that engulf Evie on a daily basis, she can’t really dismiss the feeling of powerlessness too. She starts to look at things with a make-believe magnifying glass, reading everything between the line, and getting herself wrapped up in the never-ending cycle of unresolved anger.

So, yeah, Evie can be vulgar and dramatic, but she is also extraordinary in the way that she is still around, even when things get hard, frustrating, helpless, and endlessly annoying. Evie may bark, explode, sulk, and crumble, but she will always rise when she falls, and rest when things get too hard, which to her feels much more often these days. And she knows that it is still a long way until she can breathe a sigh of relief that the world is right on its own axis, at least the world that she knows of, and she will learn to be okay about it.